Adilabad: For the past few days, cotton farmers have started taking bulk quantities of their produce to the Adilabad market to sell. The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) is offering minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 7,020 per quintal, depending on the moisture content, while private cotton traders are offering between Rs 6,300 and Rs 6,740 after claiming that the cotton has high moisture content.
Many distressed farmers were forced to sell their produce to private traders as the stock was drenched in the recent rains. Sources said nearly 90 per cent of cotton was purchased by private traders and only 10 per cent by the CCI.
The CCI is offering MSP of Rs 7,020 for cotton with eight per cent moisture and Rs 6,739 for 12 per cent moisture whereas private traders are accepting up to 22 per cent moisture but by cutting the price.
The general practice has been that private traders by purchasing cotton at lower prices. Subsequently the CCI starts purchasing from private traders at MSP.
Many growers lamented that though the cotton crop had been good, they were not getting fair prices.
A large number of vehicles loaded with cotton have been making their way to the Adilabad market yard for the last few days with the highest arrivals being on Monday.
According to Adilabad market committee officials, nearly 2.10 lakh quintals of cotton have been purchased at the Adilabad market yard this season. They expect more arrivals in the coming days.
Cotton farmers have intensified picking which had slackened due to shortage of agriculture labourers during the recent Assembly elections.
Laxma Reddy, a farmer from Adilabad, said that they had pinned hopes on getting good prices this season but their expectations were dashed by private traders.
